It has been said that IMITATION IS THE GREATEST FORM OF FLATTERY. Indiana University, consider yourself imitated and quite flattered. You have turned college football as we know it today, for better or worse depending on whom you ask, upside down. North is South and South is farther North than it has ever college football been before and that bunch can’t stand it.
There are guys sitting around Southeastern Conference back tables checking their pockets to see how much it is going to take to hire their next coach. This is not a case of “If Indiana can do it, we can do it!” No, this is a case of “If Indiana is doing it, what the hell is wrong with us?” That is one huge reason Arkansas, LSU, Florida all here in mid-season, and there will be more in this league, are looking for their “Coach”. This is a turbulent time in college football for poor leadership. This is a turbulent time in college football for mediocre leadership.
Indiana University Football has shaken even the best of those folks who have tried to feign objectivity and can no longer do so. Paul Finebaum said this week, “I’d like to see Indiana go through the gauntlet that Alabama has gone through in the last five weeks. They wouldn’t be undefeated.”
Last year in June I wrote a very complimentary feature on Paul Finebaum. I like Paul. Understand that Paul has two flags to wave. One hand waves the SEC banner. The other holds high the ESPN banner. We have come to that. I know Paul has always been a homer. Of course he is. Had he made this assertion about last year’s Indiana Football team, my inclination would have probably been to agree with him. Not this year. Not this Indiana team. There is no doubt that more than half of the teams in the SEC have much more talented and physically gifted rosters than that of Indiana. Herb Brooks said it best. “I’m not looking for the best players; I’m looking for the best team.” To do that, you have to have the best Coach. That is where Indiana is right now. Thanks to having the best Coach, the Indiana Hoosiers play football like we remember it being played. Indiana does not make many mistakes. Indiana does not turn the ball over. Indiana sacks and sacks and the Hoosiers are rarely sacked. Indiana players get ready for the next play; they don’t act like they are running for public office when they make a great play. The secret is no secret. Indiana Football players have been exposed to a coaching philosophy that has instilled a desire to be great that will be very hard to stop. Coach Cig talks about breaking the other team’s will. His boys are going to find a way to not be on the other side of that talking point.
Will the Hoosiers lay an egg today at Maryland and make me sound like a donkey? I don’t think so. I expected Indiana to beat UCLA by 40 or more last week. 56-6 was the final. If the Hoosiers run the table and meet Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, will the Hoosiers win? I don’t know. That depends on Ohio State. How ready will they be?
Paul Finebaum would not acknowledge it, if it were true. My question, as odd as it is for me to ask. I have long rooted for SEC teams, Ole Miss in particular, and I have witnessed my share of SEC games in raucous stadiums that an Indiana Football fan could only dream of. Look, I like Indiana’s small stadium. However, when I am not in the press box, Indiana is still the most football illiterate crowd in America. The smaller the full stadium the better. I have to put in an earpiece and listen to Don Fischer’s radio call through my phone, and it is a play late, just to keep my football sanity. My question is this. Is the SEC a bit overrated this year? I don’t see a National Championship contender in the bunch. Maybe Alabama. None of the SEC teams jump off the page this year. They will get their highly ranked teams by legacy if nothing else. That is the natural order of things. Just like the natural order of things is for Paul Finebaum to bash Indiana. I want to believe Paul knows football better than that. I believe he does. He has a job to do, and Paul does it well. Thanks in large part to Paul and his daily show on the SEC Network, the SEC leads the college football landscape in one thing for sure: drama. Keep it.
Hey, I finally bested ten last week! Eleven winners and three losers. How about this week?
SMU beats Miami… Coach Lashlee signed an extension this week. Upset city in Big D.
Ohio State beats Penn State… The Buckeyes. Yuck.
Illinois beats Rutgers… If this were in Piscataway, I would pick the Knights. Iffy still.
Texas beats Vanderbilt… Vandy is trying to be to the SEC what Indiana is to The Big Ten. Enjoy it. You’re going to lose your coach soon.
Louisville beats Virginia Tech… Won’t one of these BIG PROGRAMS looking for a coach grab Jeff Brohm?
Georgia beats Florida… The Bulldogs should score 31 in the first half, if they are ready to play.
Indiana beats Maryland… This Indiana defense is like watching a painting heading to The Met be created.
Minnesota beats Michigan State… This may be one I regret.
Notre Dame beats Boston College… We won’t get the BC thriller of 1993 when David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal on the last play to beat the Irish.
Ole Miss beats South Carolina… The Rebs D will be tested and they will pass.
Auburn beats Kentucky… Lexington is ready for basketball season. Seems like old times.
Oklahoma beats Tennessee… The moment will break one. UT is due to break.
USC beats Nebraska… Lincoln will be rocking tonight. Lincoln Riley that is.
Cincinnati beats Utah… Brendan Sorsby is the most underrated player in America.
Enjoy the games. Thank you, Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson. Had you not been a student-manager for Bobby Knight at Indiana all those years ago, you would not have known why you needed to pick Coach Curt Cignetti after others had turned Coach Cig away.